Prioritization indices for seismic risk management in existing buildings

A procedure for the allocation of vulnerability, risk and seismic prioritization indices of a large number of existing buildings, located anywhere in Venezuela, is presented. The indices are calculated from basic information obtained from a short duration visit and inspection to the building. The prioritization index is determined from the product of the of hazard, vulnerability and importance indices which considers the building use and the number of occupants. The procedure takes into account typical construction types of the country including popular housing and incorporates the experiences of the destructive earthquakes of Caracas in 1967 and Cariaco in 1997. For buildings located in the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, the proposed procedure takes into account the seismic micro zoning of the city. The results of the implementation of the proposed procedure are used to select those critical buildings that require more detailed structural evaluations and support decisions toward an integrated management of seismic risk. The procedure application is illustrated in a group of 154 buildings located in a county of Caracas.